Projects / Promoting social inclusion of young people in marginalised rural communities

The project is two year initiative financed by European Commission within PROGRESS Program. It is implemented since October 2011 in Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia by Center Amalipe (lead applicant), Liga pro Europa – Romania and National Roma Centrum – Macedonia (partners).

The overall project objective is to combat the social exclusion of young people from marginalised Roma rural communities in Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia through developing and testing innovative community based services.

The project meets three specific objectives:

- establishing and testing Community Support Centers as framewqork for innovative community based services for social inclusion of young people in Roma rural communities;

- measuring the effect of the established Community Support Centers on strengthening the active participation and overcoming the social exclusion in rural communities;

- ensuring the sustainability and wider application of the model established at national (Bulgaria, Romania and Macedonia) and European levels

The project is based on the assumption that the reasons for social exclusion relate not only to poverty but also to the absence of social structures within the local communities. Community based services are strong way to support establishing community social structures and to foster social inclusion. That is why the project promotes methodology that includes 3 aspects:

- developing Community Support Centers as framework for developing and testing innovative forms of community based services in marginalised rural Roma communities

- using the method of “social experimentation”: the project will develop at relatively small scale an innovative approach and concrete innovative forms of community based services for social inclusion of young people from marginalized rural Roma communities

- the project applies a strong method of coordination since it ensures coordinated work of responsible institutions, NGOs and Roma authorities